Is nine-year-old boy abandoned at bus stop a victim of the child traffickers?

Police believe an abandoned nine-year-old boy who speaks no English could be the victim of child trafficking.

Gurrinder Singh claimed through an interpreter that he was left at a bus stop by his uncle and that his parents were dead.

But officers have yet to trace any family and say they will consider trafficking as an explanation if no one comes forward.

The Sikh boy, who speaks only Punjabi, said he travelled by bus to Southall, West London, before a white man he referred to as his uncle left him.

He also said he lived in a three-bedroom house with his uncle but was unable to say where.

Superintendent Ian Jenkins, leading the investigation, said: "Gurrinder was tired when we found him. We are interviewing him gradually and it may be he is in shock so we haven't seen his true personality.

"If no one comes forward to claim him, then child trafficking is one of the options we will have to consider.

"On Tuesday we are going to conduct a more thorough interview to see if he can help us further."

After Gurrinder was abandoned last Tuesday, he walked into a medical centre and sat watching TV until staff realised he was alone and raised the alarm.

Ealing and Southall MP Virendra Sharma said: "I don't know whether this is a genuine case of a missing child or one where a child has been involved in human trafficking.

"However, there could be something more sinister. The story the boy has told just does not make sense.

"I don't think we can take the story at face-value until we know for sure more about what happened to him.' Dr Parvinder Singh Garcha, general secretary of Southall's largest Sikh temple, said: "We are helping police and social services.

"The assumption is that either he was abducted, possibly from abroad, or there have been family difficulties at home and he's run away.

"There is this mystery of a white uncle who accompanied him. Who is this man?"

And Southall councillor Tejinder Singh Dhami believes Gurrinder may have been abandoned to live a better life in Britain.

He said: "There are families from the Punjab who would do this kind of thing. Whatever the story, the boy needs love and attention and to be reunited with his family as soon as possible."

Gurrinder told police he travelled on a "bendy bus", and officers have established the likely route as the 207 between Hayes and Shepherd's Bush.

Gurrinder is 5ft tall, of medium build and has a large mole on his left cheek.

When he was found he was wearing a yellow jumper with "3 Game" on the front, blue jeans with multiple pockets, a white, long-sleeved shirt with pink stripes, white socks and red and beige trainers.

He had a bangle on his left wrist and was wearing a black hat with a red Reebok logo.

Anyone with any information should contact the police on 020 8246 1010.